Yogi Adithyanath directs officials to raise daily COVID testing to 1 lakh

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday (July 24) asked officials to work out a plan for enhancing the coronavirus testing capacity in the state to one lakh per day.

He also directed them to conduct door-to-door survey in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Allahabad, Gorakhpur and Ballia districts, according to an official release.

In a meeting with senior officials, the chief minister also said testing more will help check the spread of COVID-19 infection and ordered for conducting 2,000 rapid antigen tests daily in districts having a population of 30 lakhs or above,

in districts having a population of 30 lakhs or above, 2,000 rapid antigen tests should be conducted daily, while in others at least 1,000 tests, he said. Besides, at least 35,000 tests should be conducted daily across the state using the gold standard RT-PCR method, he said.

He asked for effective medical screening by surveillance teams which he said should be done on a mission mode and warned against any laxity. He also directed district administrations to take necessary steps to use private hospitals as COVID-19 facility if required.

He urged them to take the help of NCC cadets and people associated with civil defence for ensuring proper arrangements in coronavirus containment zones.

Adithyanath also gave directions for special cleanliness and sanitisation campaigns to be undertaken on Saturday and Sunday. He told the officials to ensure no communicable disease breaks out in flood-affected areas during the monsoon season.